In 2025, fire departments serving Lackawannock responded to 10 fire and hazmat incidents . Here's the full picture.
Grass fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 80% of all calls.
Mar peaks. Jan dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
50 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2021. $6K cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13 | — | |
| 2022 | 7 | -46.2% | |
| 2023 | 12 | +71.4% | |
| 2024 | 8 | -33.3% | |
| 2025 | 10 | +25.0% |
For the 1 building fires Lackawannock departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 11 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vehicle area, other | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Outside area, other | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Incinerator area | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Wall assembly | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 7 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 8 | Wildland, woods | 1 | 9.1% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Lackawannock mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 2 | Hot ember or ash | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 3 | Undetermined | 2 | 18.2% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 5 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 6 | Cigarette lighter | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 7 | Heat from direct flame, convection currents | 1 | 9.1% | |
| 8 | Flying brand, ember, spark | 1 | 9.1% |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Lackawannock sits below the national average for incidents per resident.
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 1,549 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 342 | 27.5 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 260 | 44.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Equipment and vehicle use | 152 | 41.6 mi | |
| 2013 | Debris and open burning | 106 | 19.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 78 | 39.7 mi | |
| 2002 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 76 | 48.1 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 47 | 21.8 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 45 | 32.3 mi | |
| 2003 | Debris and open burning | 41 | 24.9 mi | |
| 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | 38 | 22.1 mi | |
| 2015 | Arson/incendiarism | 35 | 46.8 mi | |
| 2016 | Debris and open burning | 30 | 16.3 mi |
Top 5 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Pennsylvania cities with population within ±25% of Lackawannock. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.